The third edition of the Yaiza Extremo Sur was held this weekend and Samuel Rodríguez and Sergio Machín were the winners, in the MTB and trail run categories, respectively. Rodríguez finished the 58 kilometers by mountain bike in 2 hours and 23 minutes, while Machín finished the running course in 2 hours and 18 minutes.
More than 300 male and female athletes competed and enjoyed the mountain bike (MTB) and trail run events held between Friday and Sunday, in the middle of the landscape of the Los Ajaches Natural Monument and the town of Yaiza and its surroundings.
The athletes of both disciplines especially valued "the organization and technical conditions of the Extremo Sur". Samuel Rodríguez, who also won in the long distance MTB in 2021, said after winning on Saturday that “the circuit compared to last year was much longer, but more fun". "A very hard first part, very suffered, and then the second part more rolling where I could escape and win”, he added.
Antonio Padrón finished second and Julio Gervacio third, and merit also for Lena Berndtsson, first female with a time of 3:45 in the 58 kilometers of MTB. The first classified of the municipality of Yaiza in 58 kilometers was Yonathan Umpiérrez, of the Triyaiza Club, occupying the fifth place with a very good sports performance.
Samuel Rodríguez finally took a lead of 5 minutes over the two competitors who accompanied him at the head during the first part of the race, crossing the finish line calmly. A circumstance that did not occur in the 35 kilometers of MTB, where Jesús González had to tighten the last meters to win a victory that was in a dance of three.
“The hardest part was the return with the headwind. All uphill, it became a bit hard but fun, it was very good”, said the winner. This podium was completed by Ayose Tejera and Fran Arbelo, while Yobana Charlin won among the women in 35 kilometers MTB.
The hardness of the trail
“I knew that the first part of the race was going to be fast, and then it was about holding on, running and having strength for the end. We had little wind and quite a bit of humidity, but it is always a spectacle to run along trails or the views that the sea gives you from a mountain”, said Sergio Machín, winner of the 27 kilometers Trail run. Jachinson Hernández and Fran García occupied the second and third position in the long distance, and Ivonne Yvonne Redermacher was the first woman to pass the finish arch with a time of 3 hours and five minutes.
“The route is quite beautiful, demanding, a constant up and down. It is an easy and hard test as well”, noted the German athlete, neighbor of the town of Uga, as are also neighbors of Uga Sergio Machín and Albi Cedrés, the latter winner in the 16 kilometers category, marking a time of one hour and 11 minutes.
Albi Cedrés is packing his bags to compete on August 25 in the 56 kilometers of the prestigious Mont-Blanc ultramarathon. Cedrés knows perfectly well that his participation in the Extremo Sur serves him, and a lot, for the event in the Alps: “Here in Los Ajaches the head is trained, a different, stony, dry, desert place, and nothing better than this to train the head. 60 percent the head and the rest are the legs”, said Cedrés. For her part, Belinda Guillén was the fastest woman in 16 kilometers with a time of 1 hour and 44 minutes.
The trail run mode also had a short distance, but no less demanding, of 8 kilometers. There Rayco Hernández won, and Ana Yuryiga was the first female classified.
“This third edition came with many improvements, we maintain the MTB tests, the Trail with its different distances, but we also incorporated the Yaiza Extremo Sur kids for boys and girls on the island, who have participated and enjoyed those closed circuits that we have prepared especially for them”, said the Councilor for Sports, Ángel Lago.
The sports festival for boys and girls was held on Friday afternoon on the esplanade of land located near the municipal cemetery, where the little ones had a good time with their families.
"I appreciate the work of all the entities and people committed to the organization of the Yaiza Extremo Sur, as well as the support of our Local Police, Civil Protection, volunteers and different emergency bodies that guaranteed the safety of athletes and spectators. Once again we can proudly say that Yaiza enjoyed a great event that ended without incidents and with a high level of satisfaction”, said the mayor, Óscar Noda.
